Support applicable to golf bags



Jan. 21, 1930. A. KUNTZ. 1,744,557 SUPPORT APPLICABLE TO GOLF mes Filed Feb. 15, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I1wen& r.- wazogaz/ Kwztx,

Jan. 21, 1930. A. KUNTZ SUPPORT APPLICABLE TO GOLF BAGS Filed Feb. 15, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Invenr: 07:20 Z vh Kurt/6,

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Patented Jan. 21, 1930 UNITED STATES ADOLI'H xnn'rz, or WASHINGTON, msmarcr or 'ooroivnam SUPPORT APPLICABLE TO GOLF BAGS Application filed February 15, 1929. Serial as. 340,087.

This invention relates to supports for golf bags which will maintain them in a more or less upright position so that the player can easily and conveniently remove a club therefrom or insert a club therein without bending or stoop'ing over.

An object of the invention is to provide a support which will not'interfere with the carrying of the golf bag between shots.

Another object of the invention is the pro vision of a golf bag support which will automatically adjust itself to a position closely adjacent the bag when the bag is lifted from the ground, whereby there will be no parts of the support projectii'ig away from the bag tached from an ordinary golf bag, withoutmarring the bag or changing the Structure thereof to adapt it for cooperation with the support.

Another object is to provide a support of the class described which can be made of inexpensive materials and with very little labor.

' when in operative position, as shown in Flg.

1, the lower parts of the supporting legs being broken away;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view thereof in extended operative position, the lower parts of the supporting legs being broken away;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation thereof in ex:- tended operative position, the lower parts of the supporting legs being broken away;

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view showingin detail how the support may be held attached to the bag;

And Fig. 6 is an elevational view showing the support in fiat inoperative position, semi-attached to a bag to illustrate the method of connecting the support to the bag and of removing it therefrom.

The support is shown on Figs. 2, 3 and 4 as in slanting extended operative position as when co-operating with a bag to support it, the bag, however, not being shown in these figures.

My support comprises legs 1 and 2 which may be formed from an ordinary rod of iron or other metal so that they are connected by the part 3 which may be curved as shown or have any other desired configuration, the parts 1, 2. and 3 preferably comprise one integral unit of construction. Centrally of the part 3 is pivotally mounted a bar 4- of channel iron, and for the purpose of this pivotal connection, ears 5, 6 may be stamped up from the web of the bar on the flat side thereof, and these may be suitably perforated to receive the part 3. For the purpose of assemblage the end of either leg 1 or 2 may be inserted through these perforated ears, and the bar 4 then worked around to a position as shown on the drawings. When the members-3 and 4 are once in the proper relative positions, these parts may be prevented from sliding relatively to each other by any suitable means, as by striking up short lugs 5 6 on the part 3 adjacent the ears 5, 6 by means of a cold chisel. The connection between the members 1, 2, 3 and the bar 4 is adjacent the top end of said bar, but nevertheless a substantial distance below the same for a purpose which will appear later.

A somewhat horseshoe-shaped member 7, which may likewise be formed by bending an ordinary rod of iron or other metal, is likewise pivotally connected to the bar 4. This member 7 is not subjected to stresses and strains which are as heavy as those to which the parts 1, 2, 3 are subjected, and it may therefore be made of lighter stock. The pivotal connection between the member 7 and the bar 4 may likewise be made by striking up ears 8, 9 from the web of the bar 4 and perforating these to receive the member 7, this pivotal connection being near the lower end of this bar, but nevertheless a substantial distance therefrom, the purpose of which will appear later. The member 7 is passed through perforations in these ears 8, 9, similarly to the members 1, 2, 3 through the ears 5, 6, and relative sliding of these parts, after proper positioning may be prevented likewise by any suitable means, as by striking up short lugs 8*, 9 with a chisel. The legs of the member 7 are considerably shorter than the legs 1, 2, and the lower ends of the legs of said member 7 are flexibly connected respectively to intermediate points on the legs 1, 2 as by means of the'links 10, 11, said links having a pivotal connection at each end thereof. A coiled tension spring 12 is connected at each end respectively to each of the legs 1, 2 at points on about a height with the ears 8, 9, this spring passing in front of the bar 4, that is, over the fiat side of the channel iron and beneath the central part of the member 7, thus tending to draw the legs 1, 2 inwardly toward the member 4, or to the right as shown on'Fig. 4. Practically every golf bag is provided with a handle or hand grip below but near the upper part thereof for the purpose of making it easy to carry the bag in the hand, and they are usually also provided with other carrying means as an adjustable strap 13 for suspension over the shoulder. As best shown in Fig. 5, the handles are practically all made by sewing, riveting, or otherwise attaching two foldedback strips 14, 15 of leather or other material on the upper part of the bag, these strips forming respectively loops 16 and 17. The part of the handle to be grasped by the hand comprises a member 18 having loops 19, 20 at each end thereof,

and metal links 21, 22 are usually provided to connect the grip member to the strip members 14 and 15, one of these links passing through the loops 16 and 19 and the other passing through the loops 17 and 20, there being a substantial opening in each of these links: These handles, as well as the bags themselves, are generally of standard dimensionsso that having once ascertained the proper proportioning of my support it may be applied to and be useful with practically all golf bags with the possible exception of those having unusual dimensions or those having handles of unusual dimensions, so that it is expedient to manufacture my supports in large numbers, each support being like the other. Obviously a support of special dimensions may be manufactured where desired.

My support is connected to the golf bag by inserting one of the legs 1 or 2 and the corresponding leg of the member 7 through the handle as shown on Fig. 6 and inserting the lower end of the member 4 through the link22 until the upper part of the member 4 is sufficiently low to be passed under the link 21, whereupon the support is swung about the link 22 as a pivot until the support is in a position practically symmetrical with respect to the bag, that is until the upper part of the member 4 can be passed upwardly through the link 21. Manipulation of the handle which has a considerable degree of flexibility due to its structure will be helpful in assembling the support and the bag. The upper part of the member 4 having been passed upwardly through the link 21, is held in position by any suitable locking means, it, of course, bein understood that the member 4 is suflicientTy long with respect to the handle member of the bag so that raising it a short distance for bringing the upper part thereof above the link 21 will not cause the lower part of the member 4 to pass out of the link 22, it being understood, of course, that this member 4 is not sutliciently long to cause the device to be too cumbersome for easy manipulation and use. The handle may be locked in position to the bag by both a temporary lock whereby the support can be easily removed from the bag by anyone, or by a permanent look whereby only such persons as have a key to such lock can remove the support from the bag. For the purpose of the permanent lock I may provide a hole 23 at the upper end of the bar 4 through which a padlock 24 of suitable size or other permanent locking means may be inserted and locked. Suitable holes 25 may be provided in the sides of the channel iron bar 4 for the accommodation of a cotter pin of sufficient ength to prevent the upper end of the bar 4 from falling out of the link 21. \Vhen desired the support may be removed from the golf bag with which it is associated by a method which is the reverse of that used for associating the support with a bag.

The upper part of the member 4, that is the part above the ears 5 and 6 may expediently be comparatively short, while the lower part of the member 4, that is the part below the ears 8 and 9 may be somewhat longer to permit lifting the upper part through the link 21' without-permitting the lower part to slip out of the link 22 during association with. the bag, the longer lower part also adapting the support to be associated with a bag in which the distance between the links 21 and 22 may vary from standard. Similarly for the sake of expediency the length of the part of the member a between the upper ears 5 and 6 and the lower ears 8 and 9 may be somewhat shorter than the standard distance between the links 21 and 22.

\Vhen my support is properly associated with a golf bag, the member 4t is substantially parallel longitudinally to the surface of the bag as will appear from Figs. 1 and 5, no matter whether the support as a whole is in operative or inoperative position to support the bag. With the support associated with the bag and with the support in inoperative position the legs 1 and 2 lie along the surface of the bag, being drawn thereto by the tension spring 12, and the links 10 and 11 will then point in an upward direction from the lower ends of the legs of the part 7 to their points of connection with the legs 1 and 2 respectively.

The support is so proportioned with respect to the bag that the legs 1 and 2 are long enough to project slightly below the bottom of the bag when the support is in inoperative position but associated with the bag, and all that it is necessary to do to make the support function is to catch the lower ends of the legs 1 and 2 in the ground and swing the bag backwardly away therefrom as shown on Fig. 1, it being possible to do this with the one hand which grasps the handle 18. When the support is thus caused to function, and the legs 1 and 2 assume a position at a predetermined substantial angle to the bag, the legs 1 and 2 and the bag forming a tripod, the member 7 together with the links 10 and 11 act as a check to limit this angle, the parts 7, 10 and 11 constituting a device which can expand a predetermined amount by reason of the links 10 and 11 automatically swinging into the position best illustrated on Fig. l, that is the links 10 and 11 will extend downwardly from the lower ends of the legs of the member 7 to their points of con- I nection on the legs 1 and 2.

with the device supporting the bag as shown on 1, mere lifting of the bag by means of the handle 18 or the strap 13 or in any other manner will permit the spring 12 to draw the legs 1 and 2 back again alongside the bag whereby the legs 1 and 2 and the member 7 will again assume positions substantially parallel to the member 4.

While I have described and illustrated one specific embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that this is merely by way of illustration, and that my invention is not to be limited except as set forth in the appended claims.

lower ears struck up therefrom, each of said ears having a perforation therein, a substantially U'shaped member pivoted in said perforated upper ears and being positioned sub stantially symmetrically with respect to said channel-shaped member, the legs of said U- shaped member constituting supporting legs, asec-ond substantially U-shaped member pivoted in said perforated lower ears and being positioned substantially symmetrically with respect tosaid channel shaped member, flexible connections between the lower ends of the legs of said second mentioned U-shaped member and intermediate points on the supporting legs, a coiled tension spring attached at each end to the legs of the first mentioned U-shaped member and extended across said channelshaped member below said lower pair of ears, said channel-shaped member being adapted to extend through said open handle links and to project therebeyond, the pivot connection ears for said two U-shaped members being adapted to be positioned between said open handle links, said spring adapted to extend crosswise between said open handle links, and means to lock said channel member in position in said open handle links.

2. In a support applicable to golf bags having a handle comprising open links, a rigid member quickly attachable to and detachable from said links, supporting legs pivoted to said member, and means to check the pivotal movement of said legs.

3. In a support applicable to golf bags having a handle comprising open links, a rigid member quickly attachable to and detachable from said links, supporting legs pivoted to said member, means to check the pivotal movement of said legs, and means to retract said legs to a position substantiall parallel with said member.

4;. In a support applicable to golf bags having a handle comprising open links, a rigic member insertable in said links and longer than the distance between said links, means to lock said member in position, supporting legs pivotally connected to said rigid member, and a check means connecting said member and said legs.

5. In a support applicable to golf bags having a handle comprising open links, a rigid member insertable in and removable from said links and longer than the distance between said links, means to lock said member in position, supporting legs pivot-ally connected to said rigid member, a flexible check means connecting said rigid member and said legs, and means to automatically retract said legs to a position in which they will not project substantially from the bag.

6. In a support applicable to golf bags having a handle comprising open links, supporting legs, and means angularly-movably connected to said legs quickly attachable to and detachable from said links.

7. In a support applicable to golf bags having a handle and having two means for attaching the ends of said handle to the bag, supporting legs, and means intervening between said legs and said two attaching means quickly attachable to and detachable from said two attaching means, said parts being so constructed and arranged as to permit angular movement between said legs and said bag.

ADOLPH KUNTZ. 

